Prairie earless lizard, Eastern earless lizard
The prairie earless lizard or eastern earless lizard (Holbrookia maculata perspicua ) is a subspecies of the lesser earless lizard, (Holbrookia maculata ).
Diurnal animals are active during the daytime, with a period of sleeping or other inactivity at night. The timing of activity by an animal depends ...
An insectivore is a carnivorous plant or animal that eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which also refers to the human practice of e...
Oviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
Precocial species are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching. Precocial species are normall...
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starts withThe prairie earless lizard is an overall gray-brown in color, with rows of dark blotches on either side of the back, with a light colored stripe down the middle. The males have black and white diagonal markings just before their hind legs, which typically females lack. They grow from 4.5 to 6 inches in length, and like all earless lizards, they have no external ear openings. As their range overlaps with other subspecies of H. maculata, distinguishing them can be difficult.
Holbrookia maculata perspicua is native to the prairies of the central United States from South Dakota in the north, as far south as Texas.
Like all earless lizards, the prairie earless lizard is diurnal and insectivorous. They are often seen basking themselves on rocks, but will flee quickly if approached.
